44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 21, 2024 10:00AM
- May/21/24 7:13:02 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it may have been an omission on my colleague's part, but there are lots of measures for indigenous people in the budget. One in particular that matters to me is the indigenous loan guarantee program, because there are infrastructure gaps. We know that needs have exceeded investments, but this measure has the potential to be transformative.
What are my colleague's thoughts on that?
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- May/21/24 7:28:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his passion and commitment. I certainly support him on going further on environmental initiatives.
Something that I thought was very positive in the budget was dedicated funding for friendship centres. I know that this is very much welcome news in my part of the world, and I am wondering if there is a friendship centre in the member's riding that could benefit from some of this funding.
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- May/21/24 9:35:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am going to pick up on a question that my friend from Kingston and the Islands has actually asked in the chamber a few times this evening, without receiving a response. It concerns the idea that the budget is creating more inflation in Canada. We know that now for four months in a row, inflation has gone down. It is at a four-month low, at 2.7%.
Can the member explain to me how apparently the budget is creating more inflation, when we actually see inflation going down in Canada?
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- May/21/24 9:42:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I just cannot help but notice that the member for Saskatoon—University keeps interrupting our speaker, and I would like to hear what our speaker has to share with us this evening.
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- May/21/24 10:41:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am certainly happy to engage in our final moments here in this chamber tonight, addressing the very important Bill C-69, which is our budget implementation bill.
As I prepared what I was going to share this evening, I thought a lot about our wonderful staff members here in the House of Commons who have been supporting us tonight. I thought about our lobby teams who do so much for us, and I also thought about my own team, both in the riding of Fredericton and right here on the Hill. I would just like to take this moment to congratulate them and to thank them for all that they do on behalf of constituents across the country.
This got me thinking. I have a wonderful intern in my office right now. She is actually visiting us from Michigan, studying our Westminster parliamentary system and comparing it to the American system that she is used to. She interviewed me today. She asked me a bunch of questions about my personal journey into this place, and about various policies and the process that I undertake.
She also asked me a very interesting question. It gave me a minute of pause. She asked me what the biggest issue would be for Canadians 10 years from now. It made me pause for a second because I thought it very much depends on perception, absolutely. It depends on what kind of Canada we want, what kind of efforts we are going to be putting into what this future looks like. It certainly also depends on the policies and investments of today that could create that future of tomorrow.
The Canada I want to see is one that is inclusive and diverse, one that focuses on equity and justice for all, one that has Canada leading in the green economy, one that respects environmental sustainability, one that has affordable and accessible housing as a human right, and one that ensures safety and security for all.
I think it is safe to say that we can all dream about this kind of Canada, but it is about what we do in this place right now as members of Parliament that sets up this future for the next generation. I think about my two children at home and what kind of world I want to bring them up in.
I refuse to paint a picture of Canada that is devoid of the hope and the energy that is truly reflective of Canadian ambition, of our tradition of hard work and resiliency. Conservatives may chastise me by suggesting I take off my rose-coloured glasses and hop on the nation-bashing bandwagon, but I will not do that. No one is saying that Canadians have never had it so good.
We know there are challenges right across this country. We know that the climate change impacts, geopolitical events, supply chain pressures, a cost-of-living crisis and general everyday struggles have only compounded post pandemic. We know that the word “unprecedented” has, unfortunately, been used an unprecedented amount of times in the last couple of years.
This does not mean that we turtle. It does not mean that we bury our heads in the sand or worse, that we retreat to the angry corners of the Internet to point fingers and to scapegoat our fears against the most vulnerable in society. Unfortunately, this is the direction that Conservatives have chosen. The Leader of the Opposition smiles while our country burns so that he can claim to be the great saviour, like Dances with Wolves, swooping in to rescue poor Canadians from the boogeyman.
Canadians do not need a saviour. They do not need to be talked down to or to be patronized. They do not need to be misled. They need solutions. They need evidence-based policy. They need investments. They need support. Most of all, I think that they need each other.
The Canada that I envision in 10 years would also see co-operation, unity, an atmosphere of civil dialogue where we can set aside our perceived differences to find a common ground that truly binds us. I hear none of this from the Leader of the Opposition. I hear a lot of “me”, I hear a lot of “I” and a lot of what he thinks is best or supposedly what is “common sense”, even when it makes no sense at all.
Bill C-69 is about setting the stage for a bright future for Canadians. It is about fairness. It is about strategic initiatives that respond to the difficult realities faced by Canadians. It is about transforming, for example, our housing system, empowering renters and homeowners, building stock, incentivizing development, and using the creativity and innovation that we know is what defines Canadians across this country.
Fredericton has benefited from these really important policies around housing, for example, the rapid housing initiative, the housing accelerator fund, and green and inclusive infrastructure programs. We are also home to the now famous 12 Neighbours tiny home project by entrepreneur and philanthropist extraordinaire Marcel LeBrun, who has built 99 new homes for those in need, with the help of the federal government. These are good news stories that make a real difference in people's lives, but Conservatives do not want to talk about that.
This budget bill is also about economic growth and productivity. The IMF and the OECD project that Canada will have the strongest economic growth in the G7 on average by 2025. This is good news again.
Bill C-69 looks to invest in the technologies, incentives and supports critical to increasing innovation, attracting more private investment and backing up our workforce. We are doing this by improving access to training and reskilling programs, increased funding for youth employment and skills strategy programs. This is what investing in the future looks like. It brings me hope. We do not have to be pessimistic in this place. I think it is incumbent upon all of us to be optimistic, to lay that path forward for Canadians to come along with us, together, not to divide us, not to draw those lines in the sand I am seeing far too often in this place, but in working together. That, to me, is what Bill C-69 is all about, and I am very proud to support it.
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- May/21/24 10:47:52 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I often remind the House that my background is in education and that I came here as a teacher, so I am very much reminded of my teacher voice or teacher process oftentimes in this place. One cannot go into a classroom, paint this doom and gloom picture for youth and expect them to want to work hard, want to achieve and want to set these goals and ambitions; one has to give them the tools, the knowledge and the evidence that shows them what they can do with their best efforts to create that future for themselves.
That is really what this is about for Canadians. It is giving them those tools, providing them with that stage and that hope, so they can then get themselves out of the situations they are facing with us there to support them. This top-down “Ottawa knows best” idea we are very much seeing from the Leader of the Opposition is not going to work for Canadians. We have to roll up our sleeves, link our arms and get through this together.
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- May/21/24 10:49:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for that question because it very much illustrates the point I was trying to make; continuing to tear down Canada is not serving anyone. It is not serving the House either. I am sure he did not listen to my speech because I certainly did not paint this perfect picture of Canada. What we are doing with the budget implementation act is building what we want to see for the future. It is setting up that green economy. It is setting up affordable housing for all. This is what the budget is about, making those plans and implementing them.
I will say that when I have conversations with community members in my riding, they are very much focused on the climate crisis and actually support the initiatives we have put in place as far as the price on pollution, driving down our emissions and ensuring they are given those rebates to address the affordability challenges as well. That is just one example.
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- May/21/24 10:51:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am always grateful to NDP members for bringing up indigenous issues because it seems to be a priority for them and not so much for the other parties in the House.
I have absolutely looked into that issue. There is very much a conversation happening with provincial authorities as well. In my role as Parliamentary Secretary, I have really leaned into wanting to create equity across that system, looking at what non-status looks like, looking at ensuring that those who are disenfranchised are then brought into the system and looking at the second generation cut-off, which is another piece of this. It is incumbent upon us to look across the entire system and to make sure, especially for those in British Columbia who are dealing with this immediate challenge, that their needs are also met.
I will continue to work with this member off-line and with our department as well because I know it is really important.
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- May/21/24 11:17:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member for Saskatoon—University signalled the presence or non-presence of a member in the House, and he is not allowed to do that.
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- May/21/24 11:37:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I greatly thank my colleague for his rousing speech this evening.
I am sure this is on the minds of all members in this chamber: When will the member treat us to another homemade rap video? I would really love to see that.
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